2025 MLB All-Star picks: The 64 players who should be selected

Last Updated: July 4, 2025By

Deesha Thosar

Rowan Kavner

The 2025 MLB All-Star Game starters were announced Wednesday night, but who else deserves to make it to Atlanta on July 15? 

Before the complete 64-man All-Star selections are revealed on Sunday, FOX Sports MLB writers Rowan Kavner and Deesha Thosar made their own selections for the pitchers and position player reserves they believe worthy of rounding out the rosters.

The picks below fall within the framework of the All-Star rules: 20 position players and 12 pitchers (including at least three relievers) on both teams, with every MLB club getting at least one representative. Inevitably, there are more deserving players than spots available on the rosters, but that’s part of the fun of the exercise.

Without further ado, here are Kavner’s selections for the American League and Thosar’s picks for the National League, along with some commentary on those choices and difficult omissions (starters selected via fan vote are in bold):

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders 

DH

*Injury replacement if Peña is injured

Strongly Considered 

Analysis: The hardest omission was Garcia, who should be the first injury replacement for a position player (although if Peña can’t go, it wouldn’t be a surprise or a problem to see Henderson make it, either). Ultimately, the 21 homers from Caminero and 17 from Paredes, who has played a major role in elevating the Astros into first place, gave them the nod.

Bregman would have easily made it had he not been injured. Leaving off both Arozarena, who’s on an absolute tear, and Rodriguez were the toughest choices in the outfield. (Sorry, Seattle fans). Fans voting Báez in as a starter in a resurgent year is a cool story, but he hasn’t played the outfield in a month and there’s no good argument for having him over Arozarena, apart from the fact that the Tigers deserve more representation for their dominant first half. In addition, the Angels needed a rep somewhere, and Adell stood out as a top candidate. It would be a cool story for Adell, a former top prospect who is putting together a career year at 26, if he makes it. That left me with just two other outfielders.

It’s tough to leave off both of Seattle’s standout outfielders, Byron Buxton needed to be on there (and should be starting) and George Springer is having an even better season than his last All-Star campaign three years ago for a Toronto team that deserves attention. — Kavner

(Photo by Jack Gorman/Getty Images)

Pitchers

Strongly Considered:

Analysis: Skubal is the best pitcher in baseball and deserves to start the game again. Brown, who has the lowest ERA in MLB, and Valdez have been lights out in leading the first-place Astros. Crochet, who leads the majors in strikeouts, and Fried have both looked like Cy Young contenders all year for their new squads. The Rangers have the lowest starters’ ERA in MLB, and deGrom is a major reason why. So is Eovaldi, who was a difficult cut, but the time he missed leaves him just off the list

 Bubic and his 2.25 ERA deserve a spot, and Skubal is the only AL pitcher with a lower WHIP than Ryan. After a hot start, Smith has fallen way back down to earth. He makes it solely because the White Sox need a rep, which is tough luck for both Eovaldi and Rodón, who were the hardest omissions among the starting pitchers. AL saves leader Hader (1.86 ERA), Muñoz (1.13) and Chapman (1.29) stand out among the top closers in the league, but there are always more deserving bullpen candidates than spots available. Estévez and Duran were especially difficult cuts and would be among my first calls as replacements. Both are perfectly understandable All-Star choices. — Kavner

(Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

DH

Strongly Considered

Analysis: Listen, as much as several Los Angeles players deserve to be All-Stars, the entire NL team can’t just be Dodgers. So guys like Betts, Pages, Edman and Muncy didn’t make the cut this year in an effort to fit and represent all 15 teams on the NL squad. The NL shortstops are, once again, stacked. It was extremely tough to pick between Abrams and EDLC, but the latter has the edge in slugging, and he’s electric in the national spotlight. If you’re surprised Soto made the team despite his slow start to the season, don’t be. His at-bats are a one-man show, and the All-Star game is designed to provide massive entertainment value. Plus, Soto has looked almost fully like himself at the plate over the past month-plus. There’s a worthy case to be made that Carroll should be an All-Star regardless, but his wrist injury complicates things. After Acuña was voted in as the starter, Stowers had to be included as the lone Marlins representative, which left a battle between Wood and Carroll for the final spot. The edge goes to Wood, who has been so impressive that he’s even sneaking into the NL MVP conversation.

Whittling down the options at DH was brutal because, after Ohtani, it was unjustifiable not to include both Schwarber and Devers, particularly because the latter was dealt a tough hand. Devers led all AL DH while he played for the Red Sox (and it wasn’t even close), only to lose that top spot to Ohtani once he was traded to the Giants. So we’re gaming the system a bit and going with three DH. As far as the backstops, Goodman is the lone Rockies representative with his 16 home runs and OPS+ of 127, beating out Kelly after he fizzled out from a strong April and posted a mediocre .569 OPS in June. — Thosar

(Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)

Pitchers

Strongly Considered

Analysis: Obviously, Chris Sale deserves to be an All-Star again this year, but since he’s dealing with a fractured rib and is out until at least late August, he’s omitted from this list. There was a strong case for Spencer Schwellenbach to replace Sale, but now he’s also dealing with an injury. The relief pitchers are so stacked this year that we considered adding a fourth bullpen arm and taking away one starting pitcher, but it was difficult to warrant omitting Abbott or Boyd, in that case. As it is, there’s a strong case for Holmes to be on the team given his excellent transition from a closer to a starting pitcher, but the Mets already have plenty of representation this year. 

There’s certainly an argument to be made that Suarez should be booted from the relievers list if we’re strictly going by ERA, in which case Rodriguez deserves to take his spot. But saves are important! It’s impossible to make everyone happy with our picks, but it’s completely justified if you’re miffed by the final bullpen candidates here. Picking three spots for several deserving relief arms is the definition of cruel and unusual punishment. — Thosar 

Deesha Thosar covers Major League Baseball as a reporter and columnist for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.

Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on Twitter at @RowanKavner. 

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